Growing up in Africa: Age and Pro-Social Attitudes in Primary Schoolchildren in Goma (DRC)

digital

Article

Magazine

RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI SCIENZE SOCIALI

Fascicle

RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI SCIENZE SOCIALI - 2017 - 4

Title

Growing up in Africa: Age and Pro-Social Attitudes in Primary Schoolchildren in Goma (DRC)

Authors

Sara Balestri, Simona Beretta, Mario A. Maggioni, Domenico Rossignoli

Publisher

Vita e Pensiero

Format

Article |

Pdf

Online from

04-2018

Doi

10.26350/000518_000004

Issn

0035-676X (print) | 1827-7918 (digital)

€ 6.00

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Description

While an extensive literature based on analysis conducted in developed countries shows that primary school children develop prosocial attitudes as they grow older, with school acting as the main driver of the socialisation process, there is little evidence of what may happen in very different socio-cultural and economic context. The paper aims at testing the relation between age and prosocial attitudes and behaviours by focusing on a sample of about 400 children attending 10 primary schools located in pheripheral areas of Goma, capital city of the North Kivu province in the northeast region of Democratic Republic of Congo. The evidence of behavioural experiments shows that schoolchildren attitude to truthfully report their choices tends to decrease with age (i.e. cheating increases); we also explore the relationship between other prosocial attitudes and age, finding mixed and weak evidence.